7th March 2011 - More Exam Busting at Weavers

The spring sunshine made an appearance and a short visit to Weavers School in Wellingborough banished any Monday morning blues.  Year 11 students attended Exam Busters and displayed excellent attitudes throughout.  Daniel Gay commented, "Very engaging, very positive, Mark's delivery was perfect for our students, they loved the presentation.  Becky Knight added, "A variety of techniques used which are not only useful but kept the students engaged."

It was very heartening to see the students fighting over the feedback forms at the end and their comments included,
"I believe Mark has taught us many things and we won;t forget it.  I understand where he is coming from.  Now I have tips I can use."
"Mark has taught me lots of techniques and I will carry on trying these out.  If I pass my exams, he gave the help to make my studying fun."
"Mark was funny, used words I understood and wasn't boring. One happy age group."
"This helped, new ideas, made it fun and interesting."
"Well...he taught us how to revise and he was better than other organisations we have met before."
He was really easy going and delivered a relaxed session.  He taught us in a different way which was really effective and provided easy ways to revise than any other."

3rd March 2011 - Bewdley

A perfect day with the students of The Bewdley School and Sixth Form College.  Year 11 were treated to a visit to Bewdley Golf Club to work though a day of Exam Busters.   Comments included "Engaging" and "Fun" as well as "MAD" and Useful" in the students feedback and teacher Alison Shiels added, "The event presented learning/exam revision in a fun and entertaining way.  By engaging the students using a variety of stimulating and fun techniques, Mark made the scary world of exams and revision less frightening."

2nd March 2011 - Exam Busters at Milton Keynes Acdemy

A short hop down the M1 to Milton Keynes Academy to work with Year 11!  Michelle Rance commented "This showed the students different techniques on how to revise and best use their time to help with forthcoming exams."

The students also enjoyed the day, adding, "Brilliant explanation on all points."
"Excellent, will use all the techniques."
"Fun and memorable."
"Really random and really works."
"It was mad, a bit like me!"
"It was fun and we learnt a lot.  Mark was really friendly."
"Fun, exciting, interesting and engaging, thank you."

18th February 2011 - St Marks in Bath

A lovely end to the week involved working with some wonderful students of St Marks in Bath.  A select of AimHigher students visited a lovely hotel on the outskirts of Bath and spent the morning working through the Goal Mapping programme, setting short and long term goals.  A former student then spoke about his time at the school before the afternoon session which was Exam Busters.  Teacher Steve Walker commented, "Excellent delivery and related brilliantly to the students and kept them going even on the last day of term.  Great session, thank you."

The students also added,
"It was interesting, funny and everyone enjoyed it."
"Great teaching methods."
"Very helpful, memorable and I will use it to revise."
"Inspirational!"

17th February 2011 - Malcolm Arnold Academy

A school close to home!  Malcolm Arnold Academy is only one mile from my house and the students of years 12 and 13 were a joy to work with.  Year 12 began the day working through Study Skills before Year 13 enjoyed Exam Busters.  Both sessions were well received with the following feedback teacher Rachel Curran, "The majority of students were clearly interested and engaged.  I will be using many of the suggested techniques in the near future which should further help a number of students to practice these skills."

7th & 9th February 2011 - Two Days At Bosworth...

Bosworth College is always a pleasure to visit and this week in early February was no exception.  Monday afternoon comprised of a one hour study skill session with the 6th form before a Wednesday afternoon working with year 11 on Coping With Exam Stress.

Carol Fitzgerald commented, "Great ideas, Mind Mapping is great for so many subjects, good way of remembering lots of facts and also as a framework for evaluation."

4th February 2011 - Double Act At Desborough...

A Friday trip to Maidenhead to work with the lads at Desborough School.  The all boys school spent the morning with Mark and Joe Rowntree who delivered Mastering Student Motivation before moving to Exam Busters in the afternoon.  The morning focussed on setting short term goals before looking at some valuable memory and study techniques in the afternoon.

The teaching staff commented, "Both presenters and content were great.  An enjoyable and informative day."

The students themselves also added,
"This was great, helped our revision and the tips were great."
"Was good and really educational."
"I learnt a lot and hope to keep in mind all the techniques, much appreciated."
"I loved it, it was good fun and I learnt a lot."